Finding that balance has been behind Obama's push for more trust between police and the communities they serve.

Earlier this month, the president invited several law enforcement leaders, which included Hart, to the White House as part of his 21st Century Policing Task Force.

"We're doing a lot of things. We're doing peer review on use-of-force cases. If a deputy’s involved in a use-of-force case, we will bring in a group of other deputies and supervisors and talk about what could have been done better or could anything have been done better," Hart said.

The task force outlined several recommendations police departments should follow, including inviting the community to training sessions.

The Sheriff's Office will introduce body cameras in January and have a mental health social worker assigned to its patrol team.

"What we're teaching and what we're promoting is thoughtful policing. Be thoughtful on how you do this. We are civilian police officers, and our job is to protect our community members, our visitors, all of their possessions, that's our job," Hart said.

Santa Cruz Police Department officials said they implemented many of those recommendations into use long before the president's task force developed the program.

"Our community was the first in our county to have civilian oversight, which went into effect back in the early ‘90s. Policy and oversight is one of the six points the president has outlined in his 21st Century Policing," Santa Cruz Police Chief Kevin Vogel said.

Santa Cruz County NAACP Chapter President Simba Kenyatta believes the Sheriff's Office is reaching out to minorities and said they’ve implemented a police accountability and review board.

"That's unheard for a police department of any kind, to say, ‘Yeah, I think we need a police review board.’ But Santa Cruz Police Department has a horrible reputation with people of color, even one of the sheriffs -- Lt. Robert Pursley -- he's been stopped by (the) Santa Cruz Police Department several times," Kenyatta said.

The Santa Cruz Police Department denied pulling over Pursley, who is now retired. Department officials said they have reached out to the NAACP and other community groups in an effort to foster better communication and transparency.

"The police department has never refused to meet with the NAACP. We welcome their input. As a matter of fact, we met with them last year, last spring," police spokeswoman Joyce Blasche said.

Santa Cruz police said one of those meetings came after the NAACP was concerned about officers' lack of understanding of cultural diversity. The department immediately ordered cultural diversity training.

Action News spoke with Pursley about the NAACP's claims.

He said the incident Kenyatta referred to happened 35 years ago. He hasn't had problems with any local police department since.